Tag: Wrestlemania

WWE Wrestlemania 36: Predictions & Analysis

Ok…ok. Let’s all just take a second to breathe…

We all nice and calm? Yes? Good. Now WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!

I mean, obviously, we know what’s going with the world as a whole, but as to what WWE are doing with this show…I honestly don’t have the words. First, there was talk of it getting postponed until June, then they announced they were going to do it from the Performance Center with no crowd, then suddenly it was a two-night event and now it turns out it’s technically already happened because they TAPED it last week and NOW there’s a whole bunch of confusion over who actually is and isn’t wrestling on the show. A bunch of reports came out about Asuka, The Miz & Cesaro all refusing to wrestle, but apparently, that might’ve been WWE leaking some fake info to throw people off the scent? I honestly have no idea what going on, but it sure it WILD.

The real kicker is that despite all of this craziness, I can’t help but feel incredibly underwhelmed.

I know, of course, it’s not WWE’s fault. No-one could’ve seen this coming and given the circumstances, there is honestly no “right way” to go about this. Running the show at the PC has its downsides, but rescheduling for June, when we don’t know if the current global crisis will be over by then is arguably just as bad of a decision. However, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m not nearly as excited for this show as I was a month ago and I honestly don’t think it’s going to be as good as it could’ve been. Again, not WWE’s fault in the slightest, but it’s still true.

Still, I’m not going to go in with the mindset of hating it, I’m going to do my best to give it a chance since, on paper, almost all of these matches promise great things. It’s true that the lack of a crowd will take something major away from the matches, but they could still be fun to watch.

So let’s get predicting.

OH and just to clarify, I haven’t seen any spoilers from last week’s tapings of this show because that would defeat the point.

Aleister Black vs Bobby Lashley

Oh goodie, it’s a “we need to fill two nights” kind of match.

It’s hard to be critical of a match like this because we’re all well aware that it wouldn’t be happening if the current situation wasn’t as it is; or at the very least, we would’ve got some build to it if the circumstances were normal.  I think it could be a pretty good match, Lashley can pretty selectively put on surprisingly good matches so if everything comes together between these two we might be spending Monday talking about how we were pleasantly surprised by this one.

Aleister Black has got to win though, for the same reasons he’s had to win every PPV match he’s had over the past year or so. I’m really hoping that this match ends the “match for the sake of giving Black a win” phase of his story and we actually give him something with a bit of meat to it next. Still, as far as high-profile wins go, I think beating Lashley is a good one.

Elias vs King Corbin

Ironically, this is a match I’m pretty certain would’ve happened regardless of the circumstances and yet I care so much less about it.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Elias and Corbin’s ok, but I’m just not buying the animosity between these two. The upside of Corbin’s character is that all he has to do is say a few mean words and you can understand the other guy wanting him to take him down a few notches, but I really think that both of these guys could’ve been doing something a little more interesting. Then again, we’re not getting another Corbin vs Reigns match, so I guess I should be happy about it.

I’m pretty certain King Corbin is going to win this one. He’s spent the past few months losing to Roman Reigns over and over again and it’s not like WWE have ever cared about building Elias up as a legitimate star. I imagine Elias will use Gronk’s help to get one over on Corbin after the bell, but I’m fully expecting the actual win to go to Corbin.

Otis vs Dolph Ziggler

I really didn’t think this would get this far, but good on everyone involved for making it work.

I’ve made it clear before that I’m not really digging Otis as a personality, I think he falls just on the wrong side of silly for me. That said, I’ve actually been relatively invested in this storyline, I think it’s been well-written for the most part and has served its purpose of building Heavy Machinery up and stopped them from being “just another tag team” which so many pairings are right now.

I’m not overly invested in the outcome of this one, but I think if they get the level of shenanigans right, then I’ll come away from it having an enjoyable time at the very least. I’ve got to go with Otis on this one though, otherwise, this whole thing will have been for nothing in my view, it’s not like Dolph Ziggler needs the win and after this whole saga, I think we all just want to see the happy ending where the guy gets the girl…and then the girl’s friend starts beating the shit out her.

The Street Profits(c) vs Austin Theory & Angel Garza
(Raw Tag Team Championships)

I mean…ok?

I know there have been plenty of weird decisions made in the build to Wrestlemania this year, but this strikes me as one of the weirdest. At least when Andrade was in the match I could say it made some amount of sense and if he got injured then fair enough on finding a replacement but…why Austin Theory?

Don’t get me wrong, I like Theory, I think he’s a great wrestler, but out of everyone on the whole roster they could’ve picked to fill this role…why him? There’s no rationale behind this as far as I can tell and I don’t just mean in storyline, I mean in general. Admittedly, I certainly can’t think of anyone better to put in that spot, but it still feels weird.

Regardless of the strangeness surrounding it, I’m pretty confident this will be a good match. I have very little negative to say about any of these 4 men when it comes to their in-ring work and provided this gets a decent amount of time, this could be the sleeper hit of the weekend. The Street Profits should win this one because Theory & Garza winning would be stupid and they’d probably only hold the belts for about a week.

The Kabuki Warriors(c) vs Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
(Women’s Tag Team Championships)

Alexa Bliss! I remember her.

I don’t mean to poke fun, but it really feels like Alexa has been away from the ring for ages now thanks to various injury scares and it’s almost like I’ve forgotten who she is to some extent. Her character is in this weird limbo where she hasn’t quite found her feet as a face yet outside of being Nikki Cross’ friend because everyone loves Nikki Cross.

Once again, I think the match will probably be a really fun one to watch, but I can’t say I’m all the invested in it. The Kabuki Warriors feel like they’ve been champions forever and I totally forgot that Bliss & Cross are actually who they won the titles from in the first place. It wouldn’t surprise me if we saw some form of character surprise here, with someone turning on their partner, although I couldn’t pick who. I don’t have any reason or justification behind that claim other than a gut feeling though, so who knows?

Picking a winner is a bit of dilemma too because I don’t feel like there’s much else for Asuka & Kairi to do with the titles. Which is extra weird when you consider they haven’t been defended for ages because Asuka’s been tied up with Becky and Shayna since January. On the other hand, I also don’t see any value in Bliss & Cross winning the titles back from the women they originally lost them too. I might be overthinking this, but I’m going with Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross to win the titles since Bliss has only recently returned to the ring. In addition to this, I can see Asuka & Kairi getting much more prominent roles as singles competitors to take on Shayna throughout the summer. I also think that Alexa’s already done all there is to do as a single star (at least until there’s a new crop of female talent on Raw & Smackdown), so the tag belts feel like the right move for her & Nikki Cross right now.

The Miz & John Morrison(c) vs The Usos vs The New Day
(Smackdown Tag Team Championships)
(Ladder Match)

Now, THIS is the kind of thing that gives me life. Crowd or no crowd, crazy ladder spots always look cool…assuming this match really is happening…

I honestly don’t know what else to say about this match other than it’s got a 99.9% chance of being brilliant. We already know that The Usos & The New Day have some of the greatest in-ring chemistry currently in the WWE, so you pile on top of that ladders upon ladders AND a wonderfully heelish tag team for both of them to be trying to take down and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a brilliant match.

Not only will it be a brilliant watch, but I’m also pretty even when it comes to picking a winner. I don’t think it will be The New Day and they’re the former champions, but between the other two teams, I think it could go either way. On the one hand, Miz & Morrison are still pretty hot as a team right now and they haven’t had a long enough reign to really show their true potential for what they can do with the belts in the modern-day. Then on the other, you have The Usos, who feel like they’ve been inches away from taking back the Tag Titles ever since they returned late last year. In the end, I think I’m going to have to go with The Miz & John Morrison because I’m picking a lot of face wins and a lot of title changes on this show, so this is a nice heelish win (probably achieved through sneaky methods) to balance things out.

Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins

How long has this match been building now? Since about Survivor Series?

I’m not complaining too much, as I actually think Rollins’ heel turn and character change has been very entertaining for the past few months, but this feud has in some way been a part of Raw for so long that it’s going to feel weird without it. Assuming this is their only match…which it almost certainly won’t be, but that’s not important.

This match seems like a sure-fire hit to me. Both of these guys are brilliant wrestlers who seem to know each other quite well and I’m sure they’ll put on something fantastic to watch. I imagine they’ll be shenanigans galore involving AOP, Viking Raiders & Buddy Murphy in one way or another, but I don’t think it’ll take anything away from the match. Ultimately, the only thing that could potentially drag this match down is the same thing that could potentially ruin every match for the next two nights, which is the lack of a crowd.

This is one of the matches I’m least confident about picking a winner for. Both guys haven’t had many major wins recently and both arguably need them. I think Owens has the potential to be one of the biggest babyfaces in recent memory if his rise is booked well enough, but on the other hand, I think WWE are really high on Rollins’ new gimmick right now and I fully expect him to be the first challenger for the WWE title following Wrestlemania. I genuinely went back and forth on this one so much, this is actually the second time I’ve had to rewrite this section this week because of how much I’ve been flip-flopping. I’m going with Kevin Owens, I think he’s got the most to gain from this win and it’s not like it will hurt Seth all that much to lose after the year he’s had. Not to mention, with one member of AOP being out of action again, it seems like his group might be falling apart sooner than expected.

Sami Zayn(c) vs Daniel Bryan

Yes, yes, ALL the way yes, hook this match directly into my veins.

Since I first started watching NXT in late 2014, this is the match I’ve wanted to see. If you’ve ever read any of my wrestling-based posts before then you’ll know how much I adore Daniel Bryan as a competitor and I feel a very similar way about NXT Sami Zayn. Now, admittedly, this isn’t NXT Sami Zayn, but I still think it’s going to be just as great, if not better. I was very much against Zayn winning the title from Strowman last month, but seeing the direction his character has gone in since winning it and how truly insufferable he’s become, I take it all back, this is brilliant.

There’s so many moving parts in this story too. I had no idea that Bryan vs Gulak would lead to them forming this student/mentor relationship, where the veteran Daniel Bryan is the student, but by God is it entertaining. Then there is the additional factor of Nakamura & Cesaro as “The Artist’s Collective” which is as good of a name as I suppose and we’ve got ourselves 5 of the greatest in-ring technicians of this generation involved in this match.

I’m also quite in the air about the winner. Zayn’s barely had a cup of coffee with the belt and given how amazing of a character he’s been, it’d be a shame for him to lose the title so soon. Then again, that’s also what I thought about Strowman’s run with the title and look what happened there. Not to mention Daniel Bryan with the Intercontinental Championship will inevitably lead to another run similar to Seth Rollins’ time with the title a couple of years ago where every match he has with it is amazing. I’ve also realised that Bryan winning the IC title is pretty much the only logical way to progress this story Bryan has going on with Gulak right now. So for all of those reasons, I’m picking Daniel Bryan to win this one.

Bayley(c) vs Sasha Banks vs Lacey Evans vs Tamina vs Naomi
(Smackdown Women’s Championship)
(Elimination Match)

I’ve not been a fan of how the Smackdown Women’s title has been treated so far this year. This match is just another mark that goes to show how bad of a job WWE has done of building the Smackdown women’s roster to a point where there’s a legitimate contender for Bayley come Wrestlemania; especially when she’s been tearing the house down as a character for well over 6 months now.

If this gets given a good amount of time (and with two nights, it bloody well better) I think this could be a lot of fun. Multi-wrestler matches are always able to keep up a much more frantic pace and the elimination stipulation adds for lots of story potential in order to keep everything ticking over nicely. Four out of five of these women are good-to-great wrestlers and I’m optimistic at what they could put together here given the opportunity.

When looking towards the result, that’s a little more tricky. I think there are two competitors with a pretty good chance and one more with an outside chance, those women being Bayley, Sasha Banks and Naomi respectively. Bayley vs Sasha is something we’ve all been begging to see for literally years, but since her big return last September, Sasha’s got no major wins at all. So here’s how I think the final three will go down:
– We’ll be left with Bayley, Sasha and Naomi
– Bayley & Sasha will try to double team Naomi, but she’ll break through it
– Some sort of situation will happen where Naomi lays Sasha out, but Bayley immediately shit-cans her out of the ring, leaving Bayley and an unconscious Sasha in the ring
– At which point, Bayley will pin Sasha to eliminate her, going on to use some sort of underhanded tactic to defeat Naomi too.

I’m picking Bayley to retain for a couple of reasons. One, because I think she’s doing fantastic as champion and I don’t want to see it end. Two, I’m predicting a lot of title changes on this show, especially with the major men’s and women’s titles and this is the only one I can see not changing hands. Finally, if a Sasha face turn is where this is leading, then I think it makes more sense for Sasha to be chasing the belt for the next couple of months instead of Bayley and Bayley deliberately eliminating Sasha from this match will give her some legitimate beef to build off of.

Rhea Ripley(c) vs Charlotte Flair
(NXT Women’s Championship)

When Charlotte Flair won the Royal Rumble, I (and I think many others) was a little worried that we were going to end up with Charlotte vs Bayley, a match we’ve seen plenty of times by now and don’t need to see again. However, rather uncharacteristically, when faced with two bad options, WWE managed to pick a third option that was better in literally every way and now Rhea Ripley gets to be the absolute star she deserves to be.

As much as I ragged on WWE for mishandling the Smackdown women’s division, the NXT & Raw women’s division have both been on fire for a long time now and that goes double for NXT. Over Survivor Series weekend, Ripley went from a fairly popular babyface to the single most over wrestler on the NXT roster and her title win against Baszler last December is easily one of my favourite WWE moments from last year.

I don’t think Ripley could’ve got a better opponent than Charlotte either. Not only is Charlotte a masterful technical wrestler, but her character and attitude are the polar opposite to everything Rhea Ripley is known for. It creates this perfect underdog story where the rough-around-the-edges personality of Ripley is attempting to prove that she’s on the level of arguably the most successful female wrestler of all time.

I’m picking Rhea Ripley to win here because she just HAS to. Not only is she still incredibly over with the NXT fanbase, but she’s riding such a strong wave of momentum that losing to Charlotte could be catastrophic to her career trajectory. On top of that, how weird would it be if Charlotte was NXT Women’s Champion? I know we’re supposed to see NXT as an equal third brand now, but I just can’t picture Charlotte holding that title and going up against wrestlers like Dakota Kai, Bianca Belair and Io Shirai on a monthly basis, as brilliant as that would probably be.

John Cena vs The Fiend Bray Wyatt
(Firefly Fun House Match)

Well, not a bad consolation prize for Wyatt, admittedly.

In a twist that I don’t think many saw coming, this feud has weirdly benefitted from the lack of a crowd these past few weeks. Wyatt’s always had a much more sinister delivery style, but the total silence of the room he’s in adds so much to that feeling that it genuinely felt extremely creepy. Cena’s done a brilliant job – like he always does – of building up the hype for this match too. He’s playing more into Wyatt’s promo style and presenting himself as a slightly edgier version of himself than normal too. The verbiage Cena’s been using recently as he runs down Wyatt is a little bit of pulling back the curtain, but I think it works for the story that they’re trying to tell.

I honestly don’t know what this match is going to be like, but I feel confident in saying that it’ll be a good one. Wyatt’s brought something unique to the ring every time he’s wrestled as The Fiend and Cena hasn’t put on a bad match since about 2015, so I’m confident they can pull this one-off.

The Fiend Bray Wyatt has to win here. I know I stressed that it was vital for Ripley to win, but I’d argue Wyatt getting the win over Cena is even more important. After being made to look like a total chump against Goldberg at Super ShowDown, The Fiend is on the cusp of going the way of every other unique wrestling character from the past decade. That is to say, absolutely nowhere for the rest of time. If Wyatt loses to Cena, then it’s over, not just for The Fiend but for Wyatt as a whole in the WWE, there’s simply nowhere else for him to go. HOWEVER, a win over Cena will be the perfect way for The Fiend to regain his credibility and it might just be enough for WWE to pull out of this nosedive they’ve taken the character on since February. So this one really needs to happen.

The Undertaker vs AJ Styles
(Boneyard Match)

I’m looking forward to this one, but I’m also a little bit wary of it.

When The Undertaker wrestles a match these days, it’s impossible to tell whether it’s going to be a total shitshow (see Taker vs Goldberg) or surprisingly great (see Taker & Roman vs Drew & Shane) but this is AJ Styles we’re talking about and he can carry just about anyone to a 4-star match. I mean come on, if he can carry Shane McMahon to a surprisingly great Wrestlemania match, he can do the same with The Undertaker, no problem. That said, the idea of a “Boneyard Match” seems a bit weird and one of those situations that’s only happening because of the circumstances. I remain optimistic that it’ll be something unique and interesting, but I’m mostly expecting it to be reminiscent of the House of Horrors; a nice little oddity, but not all that good.

The story for this one’s been a little bit weird as it’s mostly just consisted of Undertaker repeatedly laying AJ out and many people have been criticising this for making people not care about the match, but I wholly disagree, all I ever needed to be fully invested in this match was the sentence: “The Undertaker versus AJ Styles.”

I’d love to say AJ will get the win here, but there’s simply no way that’s happening. There’s no way AJ is going to be getting another world title reign anytime soon and let’s be honest, that’s the only other place to go after you beat The Undertaker at Wrestlemania. The Undertaker is going to walk away with the win here following what was hopefully a really good 20-minute match.

Edge vs Randy Orton
(Last Man Standing)

Another match taking place on-location and I don’t exactly see how this one is going to work. Are they just going to have a ring in a different place from the PC? Or is this actually going to be taking place in someone’s backyard or something? At least with the Boneyard Match, I can picture the kind of atmosphere they’re going for, but this seems a little odd.

That said, it’s Edge’s big return match, so I’ve got very little to complain about. Just looking at that match graphic still fills me with excitement at Edge finally being able to return to the ring. As I didn’t become a wrestling fan until 2013, Edge was already retired by the time I start watching and it’s exciting to be a part of a brand-new match of his that actually stands a chance of being pretty good, unlike many other returning legend’s matches.

I know, it’s a weapons match, involving Randy Orton, which are usually my two biggest turn-offs when it comes to a big match, but there’s so much intensity between these two and such a brilliant story, that I honestly think this could be one hell of a match. Not to mention, since this is Edge’s big return match, I’d say odds are pretty good he’s going to go all-out to prove he’s still got it, which I’m sure he does. Edge is going to win this one because come on…how could he not?

Goldberg(c) vs Braun Strowman
(Universal Championship)

Welp, there goes everything I’d already written about this match.

Despite the question decisions leading up to it, I was actually quite looking forward to Goldberg vs Roman Reigns. I thought it had some real star power behind it and had an outside chance to be a really fun match, in a car-crash sort of way. However, circumstances change and Roman Reigns pulled out of the match due to health concerns(which is 100% a fair decision and people having a go at him for it are just being arseholes. The man had a leukaemia scare last year you heartless wankers).

So now, with about as much ceremony as you’d expect given the situation, Braun Strowman has been inserted in to fight Goldberg instead and…ok? Maybe if WWE were in a position to give us some build for this then I’d be more excited to see it, but as it stands, just seeing these two guys slapped next to each other and being told to fight doesn’t do anything for me. I could sit here and speculate over whether or not I think this will be a good match, but I don’t think much more effort will go into this than the usual Goldberg affair.

As for a winner, I guess it could be seen as up in the air a bit. Goldberg was very obviously supposed to lose the title here to Roman, so they might just go through with that, plus WWE love to “surprise” us with the last-minute replacement winning (although, since they do it almost every time, it’s not much of a surprise). There’s also the fact that I doubt Goldberg will actually be able to lift Strowman up for a Jackhammer, but they can work around that. Despite all that, I’m still going with Goldberg to retain. Once all this is over, Roman is winning that Universal title one way or another and we’ve already seen Roman vs Braun far too much for it to be exciting. There’s also the fact that WWE has shown zero evidence that it’s ever been willing to get behind Braun as a top guy (even though they should) they’ve had so many opportunities over the past three years and they’ve backed away from it every single time.

I certainly wouldn’t be upset if Braun won the title, but I’m still leaning towards Goldberg retaining at the right move here.

Becky Lynch(c) vs Shayna Baszler
(Raw Women’s Championship)

Ohhh, it’s so close I can almost taste it and it tasted wonderful.

This is easily the match I’m most excited in seeing on this show, mostly because of how long it’s been rumoured and how long we’ve had to wait to see if it was actually going to happen, but here we are and I’m hyped.

While many people have seen their interesting waning in Becky Lynch recently, I entirely disagree with that viewpoint. After dispatching of Asuka I think she’s taken a really interesting character turn of not taking any threat seriously and I love that. She’s spent a year on top of the Raw women’s division and has beaten literally everybody, why should she take this upstart seriously? If the match leans into this story as well, then I think we could be in for a brilliant story-heavy match, which tend to be the kinds of matches were Baszler really shines. Her heel-work is outstanding and in order for the audience to buy-in to her big time, she needs to let it flow in every way possible.

As you can probably tell from how much I’m gushing, I think this match is going to be great. Both of these women have already proven themselves time and time again to be two of the best women’s wrestlers on the planet – Shayna in NXT and Becky over the past 18 months on Raw & Smackdown – and seeing them clash like this is bound to be something special and is likely to launch the Raw women’s division into a new era.

As you’ve probably guessed, that “new era” entailed Shayna Baszler taking Becky down and walking away with her championship. Not only would a loss here be potentially devastating for Baszler’s career, knocking her down way too soon in the same way Asuka got knocked down at Wrestlemania 34, but also if Becky did retain, where would she go from here? There’s no-one left for her to fight, even if they did a shake-up, the only wrestler from Smackdown on her level that she hasn’t had a high-profile match with yet is Bayley and she’s tied up in a different storyline. We need fresh matchups and fresh faces at the top of the Raw women’s division to prevent it from stagnating this year and having Shayna at the helm will be the perfect way to do that. Not to mention it could lead to an Okada-Esque downward spiral for Becky that could make for a very interesting story.

Brock Lesnar(c) vs Drew Mcintyre
(WWE Championship)

I honestly didn’t think we were ever going to see this. For the past year, I’ve felt like WWE were never going to get behind Drew like they should. He kept taking really major losses to guys like Ricochet and Dolph Ziggler when he really needed to be winning on a regular basis. Then suddenly, 2020 began and it’s like something totally switched in the minds of creative and they decided Drew needed to be the biggest badass the world has ever seen. Beating Orton & Styles in a triple threat match, eliminating Lesnar from the Royal Rumble and then winning the damn thing after Roman seemed the sure-fire winner and suddenly he’s the most legit title contender Brock’s had in years.

For the longest time, I’d believed Drew was at his best when he was a heel who could destroy just about anyone, but since he’s turned face I’ve been so much more into him as a character because aside from being a wonderful man in real life, he’s transformed into this tough-guy, good-guy that gets what he wants seemingly through sheer force of will and I’m totally behind him now.

I think this will be a great match too. When Brock’s enjoying working with someone, he will go all-out to put on a good match with them, just look at his matches with Styles, Bryan & Rollins for proof of that and from what I’ve seen between these two interacting on TV and what Drew’s been saying in interviews, it’s clear Brock is loving working with Drew. I’m expecting this to be a mega-hoss fight in the best possible way, we’re going to see these two men try to destroy each other in just about every way possible and I think it’s going to be amazing.

I’m always hesitant to pick against Brock, especially considering Vince can lose interest in his pet-projects at any moment, but I’m sticking to my guns and saying Drew Mcintyre is coming away with the title here. Everything about the build to this match just feels like it’s his moment and I really hope it comes to fruition. I don’t often get patriotic, but if this Wrestlemania gives us the first-ever UK-born WWE Champion, it will have a place in my heart forever.

So there you have it! Those are my predictions for the hot-mess that will likely be Wrestlemania 36! Let me know what you think is going to happen, either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. As this event is running over two nights, I’m going to wait until Monday and review both nights as a whole, ranking every match across both nights in one big article. So I hope to see you there!

My 11 Favourite Matches of The Undertaker

For many years, whenever Wrestlemania season rolled around the biggest question on everyone’s minds wasn’t who would be fighting for the company’s world titles, but who would get the prestigious honour of fighting The Undertaker. A wrestler who has stood the test of time like no other, The Undertaker has wrestled for so long in so many different styles that his mere presence on a card draws more hype than any championship match ever could.

I’ve talked a bit before about how important The Undertaker is to me as a wrestling fan, so as you can imagine I’ve watched a hell of a lot of his matches over the years and it’s safe to say that many of them are among my favourite matches ever. His in-ring ability may have waned somewhat in recent years but that doesn’t stop me getting incredibly excited at the prospect of him stepping in the ring once again, especially since we never really know which time will be his last.

With yet another huge bout set for Wrestlemania 36 in a few weeks against AJ Styles, I thought it’d be a good time to look back at the best of what The Undertaker has offered us, over the years.

11 – vs Brock Lesnar – Wrestlemania 30

Ok, we’ve got to address the elephant in the room with this one, which is quite simply that the actual makeup of this match was awful. Taker, unfortunately, suffered a concussion early on in the match and it left Brock having to carry a bit of dead weight in the ring for a while until Undertaker was able to gather his surroundings enough to form a barely passable match.

HOWEVER

That’s not what matters about this match, what matters about this match is the finish and the moments immediately following it. The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania undefeated streak (aka “The Streak”) was inarguably the greatest draw in modern Wrestlemania history. Once the numbers got up to heights like 13 matches and 13 wins, every year The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania match become an absolutely huge deal. The unmatched aura of a man who’s genuinely undefeatable combined with the consistently brilliant match quality (as we’ll soon discuss on this list) brought The Undertaker’s legacy to such a height that we thought it never could (and many thought, never should) end.

And then it ended.

Many people have spoken on this and I perhaps can’t quite do justice to just how monumental of a moment this was. Several people who witnessed the event live have spoken of the atmosphere of pure disbelief and tragedy in the crowd and said that there is simply no comparison to the feel in the building during the moments following the ending of The Streak. It was a rare moment of genuine shock from the wrestling fanbase, with a feeling that I don’t believe will ever be replicated in wrestling during our lifetimes.

But like I said, the match itself was the drizzling shits, so 11th is the highest it can go.

10 – vs CM Punk – Wrestlemania 29

When people think back on The Undertaker’s run of incredible matches through the late 2000s and early 2010s, this match often gets left off of that list and I think that is a huge disservice to the brilliant match these two put forth.

In the build to this match, Punk put forth what I think is some of his best heel work ever. It played off the real-life death of The Undertaker’s former manager Paul Bearer in a way that I don’t think went too far, even if it was uncomfortable for some. This carried over into the match too and having Heyman sitting on the sidelines, playing along with Punk’s every taunt was just fantastic. There felt like there was a real animosity between these two and it brought us some brilliant moments that capture the essence of what a good Streak match is all about because we’re all so sure that there’s no way The Undertaker’s going to lose, that it’s actually very easy to make us believe he might.

This match also holds a lot of personal weight for me too, as it was the first match I’ve ever watched the whole way through. If you want the full story on that, then I’ve talked about it before but there’s a good chance that if I’d seen a match that wasn’t as good as this one, I wouldn’t have stuck around to become the opinion spewing nerd I am today, which I’m sure would be a great loss to the world…right?….riiight?

9 – vs Brock Lesnar – Hell in a Cell 2015
(Hell in a Cell)

This match stands out for me more because of how surprised I was that it ended up being so good.

Going into this match, Lesnar & Taker had already fought a few months previously at Summerslam and the match was…ok. It was pretty fun and gave us the hilarious visual of Lesnar giving Taker the finger as he passed out, but it was mired by a general slow-pace and very confusing finish that was designed to protect Lesnar but ended up making The Undertaker look like a cheat.

Apparently, the solution to all of these problems was just letting these two guys batter the piss out of each other for twenty minutes in just about every way possible. In the modern era, it’s so rare we get a Hell in a Cell match like this, but it had exactly what the stipulation calls for. There was blood, there were weapons and there was wall to wall violence that ended up being the perfect way to represent the pure hatred between these two competitors.

The action was very exciting too, despite what I had expected, things kept going at a pretty solid pace the whole way through and each weapon spot took the intensity up just a little in order to get the maximum impact out of everything. The finish was great too, with the ring-mat being ripped up and exposing the wooden boards underneath – a spot that remains just uncommon enough to still feel like a big deal – and ultimately, the right man won, capping off a surprisingly brilliant feud that benefitted from some very rare, WWE branded long-term storytelling.

8 – vs The Rock vs Kurt Angle – Vengeance 2002
(WWE Undisputed Championship)

As is probably expected, there aren’t many matches on this list from the “Biker Taker” phase of The Undertaker’s career. Various injuries alongside a generally not very interesting persona or in-ring style meant that a lot of the magic that surrounded The Undertaker was gone during this era and is considered by many fans and critics to be the worst era of his career, so this match is very much the exception, not the rule.

The story going into this match was very hot indeed, mostly just consisting of the three men involved in this match slowly escalating the violence in order to bring the hype for this match up to a fever pitch. This carried over into the match, particularly between The Rock and The Undertaker, who spent a lot of time trying to destroy each other throughout this match. As it stood, Angle slipped into his role perfectly for this match. Angle standing there trying to get the attention of The Undertaker and The Rock as they stare each other down is one of those wrestling gifs that has stood the test of time and it really was indicative of how great Angle was at constantly skimming the line between comedy and serious wrestling.

This match was the kind of car-crash TV that doesn’t always work, but in this case, it really did. All three of these men were constantly colliding in all kinds of ways throughout this match. The action was big move after big move in the best possible way and some classic spots where the men kept stealing each other’s finishers. It doesn’t really tell any kind of grand story, it’s just a pure blast of violence and mayhem from start to finish and stands today and one of the best triple threat matches WWE have ever produced.

7 – vs Batista – Wrestlemania 23
(World Heavyweight Championship)

Alongside his match with CM Punk, this is another one that often gets forgotten when people run down the best Streak matches and I think that’s a massive disservice to the unique style of match these two guys put forward on the night of Wrestlemania 23.

The story of this match is very simple, one big man has a title, one big man wants the title, this leads to the two big men trying to absolutely annihilate each other for fifteen minutes straight and it’s an absolute blast. Seriously, these two guys don’t let up on each other at any point during this match, there’s nothing slow or plodding about it in the slightest. The whole match feels like such an intense fight with big move after big move and some brutal-looking spots through tables and the like.

It also clocks in noticeably shorter than almost all of the other matches on this list, which only helped had to that feeling of intensity. “The Streak” had just about become a thing by this point in time so Batista trying to put The Undertaker down hard and fast was the only possible way he stood a chance of winning, The Undertaker responded in kind and those simple story point carried this whole match to something really entertaining and surprisingly unique for the era in which it took place.

6 – vs Mankind – King of the Ring 1998
(Hell in a Cell)

As much as the focus for this match goes mostly onto Mick Foley (and deservingly so I might add), The Undertaker’s contributions to this match can’t be understated.

We’ve all heard the story of this match a thousand times over so I’ll spare you the details, but despite the match being relatively devoid of any “traditional” wrestling action, it’s guaranteed to keep you involved for its runtime because of the sheer shock and awe of what happens during it. The tension during the moments where they’re on the top of the cell is incredible and no matter how many times you see either of the falls, it never fails to surprise me.

From the points following both of the falls, things continue to go absolutely mental with various people getting involved to tide over the time where no-one was quite sure whether or not Mick Foley had just died and some gruesome looking spots involving thumbtacks just before the finish. Ultimately, all that matters about this match is the absolutely iconic moments it created and almost single-handedly lifted the Hell in a Cell match to legendary status.

5 – vs Shawn Michaels – Badd Blood 1997
(Hell in a Cell)

Oh hello Shawn Michaels, I wonder if we’ll be seeing you again on this list…

I’ve already covered a couple of Hell in a Cell matches on this list, so it only makes sense to go all the way back to the first. Being the first match of it’s kind, this was going to have to leave an impression on the audience and it achieved that in more ways than one through both it’s storytelling and it’s action. During this period of his career, Undertaker was working a much slower, methodical style which worked entirely to this match’s benefit as it meant anytime Michaels got offence in, the crowd started to go nuts for it.

The cell was also used to great effect, for one thing, the atmosphere of the whole thing is so incredibly intimidating and it only gets better when we see some of the archetypal spots that we’ve seen in almost every HIAC since. The whole thing also had quite a claustrophobic feeling to it, something the modern cell has lost with its increase in size but I really enjoyed the cramped feeling of the whole thing, even if Shawn Michaels didn’t appreciate being so close to the cameramen.

It also had one of the truly iconic endings in WWE history as Kane made his debut, tearing the door off of the cell and tombstoning The Undertaker, allowing Michaels to sneak away with the win. The whole set up of that final segment was a wonderful piece of storytelling and made sure that it didn’t feel like a cheap get-out to having Undertaker take the pin. Not only was it a brilliant match in its own right, but it established a new stipulation match as a staple that we still see on a yearly basis today.

4 – vs Edge – Wrestlemania 24

This match is probably the closest one of these matches to the expected modern WWE main-event style, but it’s easily one of the best iterations on that formula I’ve ever seen.

There wasn’t a great deal of complications going into this one. The Undertaker and Edge were yet to collide in a major way during their careers so this felt like a huge clash between two genuine legends of the business. When it comes to what we think of today as the formula for “epic” Streak matches, this had just about all the ingredients and more. Both guys would kick out of a bunch of finishers with a whole bunch of really fun back-and-forth wrestling between the two men.

There were some fun story elements in there too, namely Ryder & Hawkins running down during a referee bump to create some more chaos and really milk the crap out of every near-fall. Then we had the immortal gif of Charles Robinson sprinting his way down the extremely long ramp to count a pinfall that never stops being funny to watch.

As it stands, there isn’t really much more to this match, it’s just some really great action between two really great wrestlers in a spot that both of them absolutely made the most of, with The Undertaker vs Edge feud continuing on for the better part of a year following this and becoming one of the most memorable storylines in Smackdown history. Which is nice.

3 – vs Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania 25

I know, I know, it’s only third, but hear me out.

In terms of in-ring action, this match is easily head and shoulders above the rest. I could sit here and run down all of the posts but that would honestly do a disservice to how incredibly well built this entire match was, telling its own little story (even though there wasn’t much going into it) and creating one of the most edge-of-your-seat exciting matches I’ve ever watched.

The chemistry between these two competitors is just outstanding. As we saw earlier in this list, these two had been around in WWE for a very long time by this point and every inch of their experience was poured into this match. Even though I knew the outcome when I watched this match for the first time, I still found myself buying into every near fall and each kick out created some wonderful moments following it.

As I’ve said, when it comes to in-ring action alone, this might be the highest quality non-NXT match I’ve ever seen in a WWE ring, but these next two matches have a little something over it that this one doesn’t quite have enough of.

2 – vs Triple H – Wrestlemania 28
(Hell in a Cell)

Story. That’s what makes this match so incredible, the sheer force and strength of its story.

The build to this match alone was enough to get anyone hyped up to see this fight. After Taker & HHH beat each other within an inch of their respective lives the year previous, The Undertaker was desperate for a rematch to prove his victory wasn’t a fluke, but Triple H was too busy being the COO of the company to have any part of it. Invoking Shawn Michaels’ from the previous years was a fantastic move and bringing him in for this match as the special guest referee was a stroke of genius. It tied together the past 3 years of The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania matches into one climactic story of Shawn Michaels and Triple H just trying so desperately to defeat The Undertaker just so they can say they’ve done it.

From a purely wrestling-based standpoint, this match wasn’t quite on the level of many others on this list, but what’s really important is the story surrounding it all, a story that was so masterfully told in the ring as well as in the build-up that it elevated a pretty good match into a transcendent one. I still remember very vividly my feelings in that moment where Michaels super kicked The Undertaker into a Pedigree from Triple H and even though, going into the match I KNEW for a 100% fact that Undertaker was going to win, I still bought into that near-fall and it remains to this day my favourite kickout I’ve ever witnessed.

Even once the match was over, the raw emotion of everyone involved was so incredibly powerful and that image of the three men standing in each other’s arms at the top of the ramp as the “20-0” graphic was behind them is just so amazing that even various awful Saudi Arabia matches can’t cheapen its emotional impact.

1 – vs Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania 26

Maina 25 had the incredible action, Mania 28 had the incredible story, this match has both.

You take the excellent wrestling contest from the year prior to this one, you mix it up and make it feel fresh and new, then you throw in the added drama of Shawn Michaels’ career – a career that’s spanned almost 2 decades – potentially coming to an end and you’ve got a recipe for what I would argue is the single greatest match in Wrestlemania history.

This match worked in so much from the previous year while still bringing in new spots and new action to weave into the contest. It had such a weight to it as both men were able to predict the other’s movements almost perfectly, seemingly calling back to their previous encounter purely out of spite and emotion. The Undertaker was protecting his undefeated legacy, while Shawn Michales was fighting to keep his living.

As the fight wears on, you can almost feel these two titans of the industry coming to respect one another, as they give each other their absolute best to prove that they deserve to be the winner at the end of it all. This all brings us to yet another incredible moment, where The Undertaker had Michaels dead to rights, but he just won’t stay down. You can see that there’s almost a level of pity on The Undertaker’s face as he stands over Michaels…until Michaels slaps The Undertaker across the face in defiance, telling him that if he’s going to end his career, he better do it properly.

It’s one of those truly rare gems in wrestling where absolutely everything comes together. The story, the action, the finish, the aftermath, it was genuinely perfect and still stands today as The Undertaker’s greatest ever match.

That’s all folks! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article, please let me know what some of your favourite Undertaker matches are, either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Finally, make sure to come back here this time next week, where I’ll be running down every episode of Doctor Who Series 6!

WWE Elimination Chamber 2020: Every Match Ranked

The final PPV before Wrestlemania (I fucking hope) is finally in the books and…yeah, it was alright, I guess. It pretty much exactly met my expectations, most of the matches that I thought would be good were good and the ones that I thought would be boring were boring and in the end, I think the show came out at about 50/50 in terms of quality and ultimately, I don’t think it was a necessary stop on the way to Wrestlemania.

Let’s look at the matches then.

8 – The Viking Raiders def. Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins
(Kickoff Show)

Remember every pre-show tag team match from the past two years? Yeah, this was one of those only slightly shorter.

It honestly blows my mind who in WWE took a look at the Viking Raiders and thought “yeah, let’s have Hawkins & Ryder get in loads of offence against them”, so what if they’re former Raw Tag Champions? I bet most people didn’t even remember that was a thing until I just said it right then. I don’t want to be that guy who sits around and moans about how Raw & Smackdown “bury” NXT talent, but I think the sheer lack of interest whoever’s running Raw is showing the Viking Raiders is an absolutely huge waste.

Yes, I know, they won the match, but this should’ve been a 2-minute squash at best, but whatever, not like anyone’s going to remember or care about it by the time Raw airs.

7 – Sami Zayn & Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro def. Braun Strowman(c)
(Intercontinental Championship)
(3 on 1 Handicap)

Oh…well ok then.

I don’t quite know how to feel about this if I’m honest. I mean, the match was an absolute bore, hence why it’s placed this low but in terms of the result, I can see both sides. On the one hand, it’s a disaster for Strowman, not just the result, but how he looked throughout the match too. This is a man we’ve seen get up from just about anything, he spent months getting beaten down by Roman Reigns and continuously getting back up, for God’s sake, this is the guy who was in the back of an ambulance as it crashed, at speed, into a wall and WALKED AWAY, but apparently, Nakamura stomping him in the corner 2 minutes into the match is enough to keep him down.

I mentioned in my predictions that any result other than Strowman winning would be a massive anti-climax and to a certain extent, I stand by that. The whole match felt so desperately like it was building to Strowman coming back and wiping the floor with all three of them, but that never came to pass. Instead, they did that weird-ass looking suplex/kick to the head that honestly looks so weak and Sami Zayn won the Intercontinental Championship.

Now…

Sami Zayn winning the Intercontinental Championship is a good thing, of course it is. Zayn’s been so undervalued for so long and to see him finally win a title is brilliant. However. I think Strowman retaining would’ve been a better option, especially if the result of this is just going to be Strowman squashing Zayn at Mania, which it probably will be. Maybe I’m wrong and if this turns into a really entertaining heel reign as champion then I’ll hold my hands up and admit it, but I’m not optimistic.

6 – Aleister Black def. AJ Styles
(No Disqualification)

It pains me to do this, it really does, but this match sucked.

While I understand the no DQ stipulation was necessary to tell the story they wanted to tell, but it totally screwed the match in terms of quality. I know that these two could put on a fever-pitched classic if they were given the opportunity, but instead, this started slow and got slower as it went on. It wasn’t all boring, I did enjoy the focus on the leg because it makes perfect sense when fighting a guy like Black and it led to a rather tense spot as Styles locked in the Calf Crusher.

This match certainly wasn’t helped by a completely dead crowd. I understand why though. They’d just watched a rather tiring Chamber match and they were waiting for The Undertaker to show up, but it definitely detracted from my enjoyment of the match and likely contributed to the slow pace. Speaking of The Undertaker, although his appearance was predictable, it was still exciting and was absolutely the right move for both the story and the general context of both guy’s strength on the current roster.

While I would’ve liked Black to win without any assists, it wasn’t feasible when Styles had to be kept strong for The Undertaker. I’d rather they hadn’t booked this match at all, but since they did, I think this was the best way to get out of it. Doesn’t make it interesting to watch though.

5 – The Steet Profits(c) def. Seth Rollins & Murphy
(Raw Tag Team Championships)

I’ll be honest, I was quite disappointed with how this one turned out.

After their entertaining showing at Super ShowDown, I was expecting this match to build off of that and put on a really fun tag match, but instead, I don’t think it ever quite got going. Things were nice and fast out of the gate and I thought that everyone involved here had a strong sense of character and it made all of the story beats – including Viking Raiders showing up to deal with AOP – quite entertaining and I continue to become more and more involved in this story as a whole.

After Rollins & Murphy took control towards the middle, I thought we were building to somewhat of an explosive final 5 minutes once Ford got the hot-tag, but it just didn’t happen. There were hints of it in there, but I didn’t find any of the action all the engaging and then Kevin Owens showed up (with some top-notch acting to be fair) and the whole match just sort of stopped to focus on that instead. The finish that came immediately after it felt quite sudden too and I was left feeling quite deflated by the end of it all.

4 – Shayna Baszler def. Sarah Logan & Ruby Riott & Natalya & Liv Morgan & Asuka
(Winner faces Becky Lynch at Wrestlemania)

Ok, we can all breathe a sigh of relief, they didn’t fuck it up.

Probably the only thing on this show to actually matter, this match did everything we wanted it to do for Shayna Baszler. She wiped the floor with absolutely everyone and looked like a monster in the process, a lot of the offence she got in looked absolutely brutal and I’m not entirely sure Liv Morgan is ever going to be able to walk again after Baszler damn near caved her head in at certain points.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the most entertaining match to watch. Riott & Natalya started off well enough, but everything they were doing is stuff we’ve seen in Elimination Chamber matches seemingly hundreds of times before and I can’t say I was all that engaged by it. Then, once Baszler got in and had dispatched of everyone, we just had to watch her shouting at the people in the pod for what felt like forever and I just lost interest. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve gotta have a bit of that to help Baszler look great, but it dragged on for way too long and it’s not like anyone would care if the clock ran down a little faster. I was hoping we’d get a little bit more between Baszler & Asuka at the end, but I’m ok with it going shorter than it could’ve because you don’t want to give that away right now when it could be a big match later down the line.

Although I have my complaints, I’m happy with how this all turned out. It’s a rare case with WWE, where I’m fine with forgiving something not quite as good right now because I’m confident it’s going to lead to something really great in a month or so.

3 – Andrade(c) def. Humberto Carrillo
(United States Championship)

You know, it’s only just dawned on me exactly how long this feud has been going on. No wonder they’re putting on matches like this after so much time together.

After many months of not quite understanding who Carrillo is, the stuff with Garza has helped Carrillo grow a bit of an edge to him as a character and I think it’s helped his in-ring style too. He felt a lot more hard-hitting here and I’m finally getting behind him more as a character than I have been in previous encounters.

This lead to what I thought was quite an entertaining match. It started out fast and furious and it really got the crowd involved for the length of the match. Things slowed in the middle but I think it kept the action fresh for when things eventually began to accelerate again. The finish was a little weird, but I do have a soft spot for spots with constant roll-ups and it’s a rare treat that one of them actually gets the win. I perhaps would’ve preferred a clean finish, but this gives Carrillo a decent enough excuse to get himself in on whatever multi-man affair happens around Mania, so I think it’s fair enough.

2 – The Miz & John Morrison(c) def. Lucha House Party & Heavy Machinery & Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode & The New Day & The Usos
(Smackdown Tag Team Championships)
(Elimination Chamber)

Once again, this was about as good as I was expecting it to be, which is pretty nice.

Usos vs New Day was easily the best choice to start things out and it kept the action going for long enough until the ring started to fill up. Each subsequent team that entered each added something new to the action, I was surprised that Lucha House Party looked as good as they did and once Miz & Morrison got involved, it added a lot of great heel work into the action. Heavy Machinery are also on an absolute tear right now. I’m still not entirely behind them as characters, but as wrestlers, I totally get it now.

There were downsides though. For one thing, I don’t think there was enough good use of the time between entrants. There seemed to be a big spot when a team first enters and just before the next team enters, but a lot of the time in between was spent milling around or with some rather boring action, it would’ve been nice to see some actual interesting wrestling while waiting for more entrants.

When I say “interesting wrestling” I don’t mean more dives off the top of the pod because, by my count, there were five of these in this match (six if you count Ziggler being thrown off by Tucker) and it’s just not an impactful spot anymore. Speaking of, Dorado’s Moonsault from the top of the chamber looked cool, although the setup was a bit weird as all of the wrestlers were watching him climb around and we all just had to pretend not to notice until he was in position.

Once things got down to the final three business really picked up and I had a lot of fun watching the action. Miz & Morrison did exactly what they needed to do, picking their spots to get the eliminations at the perfect moments and the final battle between them and The Usos was a magnificent little sequence that whetted my appetite for more of it in the weeks and months to come.

Overall, it won’t go down as one of the best chamber matches ever, but for what it was I really enjoyed it, especially towards the end when the pace accelerated exponentially until the finish.

1 – Daniel Bryan def. Drew Gualk

Oh, so we’re treating Gulak like a real wrestler now? Took you long enough.

This was such an interesting match to watch because it’s not the kind of style we see very often in WWE anymore. This mat-based style of wrestling walks such a fine line between being tense & interesting and slow & boring, luckily, this landed on the better side of that line. It was never a match that was never going to pop a modern American crowd, but I still think it did wonders for Gulak’s credibility.

I really got into the story being told here and I just loved how Gulak seemed to have just about everything in Bryan’s arsenal scouted. It gives the impression of him being the thinking man’s heel, winning matches through actually being smart, rather than cheating. Bryan filled his role here perfectly too, being surprised by Gulak’s competence early on but slowly feeling him out and adapting to his style, eventually getting to the point where Bryan could also counter whatever Gulak was throwing his way.

The finish was brilliant too because it didn’t make Gulak look weak, despite the fact he tapped. The way Bryan so smoothly slipped into the LeBelle lock gives me in the impression that Bryan learnt Gulak’s game and adapted, while Gulak stuck to his gameplan and couldn’t quite out-think Bryan once he started innovating. I’m not sure where this will lead, but I just hope it’s somewhere, I think WWE have stumbled upon a really interesting story here and they shouldn’t let it slip through their fingers.

And there you have it! Those are my thoughts on Elimination Chamber 2020. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this and please let me know what you thought of the show, either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Finally, make sure to come back this time on Saturday where I’ll be running down my favourite Virtual Reality games!

NXT Takeover: Portland: Every Match Ranked

Another Takeover, another great night of wrestling. I don’t think anyone would be surprised to discover that the show last night was just as good as they always are. I was worried the addition of a 6th match would mean that one of the matches get slightly shafted, but instead, the length of the show was simply extended to make room, which is fine with me and I don’t think 3 hours is too long of a show, especially when compared to Raw & Smackdown PPVs. So let’s not waste any more time and take a look at the matches.

6 – Dakota Kai def. Tegan Nox

Interesting how on one show we can have examples of two match-interferences, one of which was to the match’s benefit, the other its detriment, no prizes for guessing which one this was.

The action between Nox & Kai was great stuff, as I mentioned in my predictions, this whole build has done a great job of making both women seem like legitimate contenders in the women’s division and the brutality on display here has capped that off perfectly. I know I’m not normally a fan of weapons matches but I think this one kept the pace fast enough to hold my interest.

The interference at the end feels to me like a case of short-term loss for long-term gain, which is ultimately a good thing, but it doesn’t stop it from bringing this match down. It didn’t help that I – and seemingly the whole arena – had no idea who it was that interfered in the match, but I kind of like that, it immediately creates intrigue surrounding them and it lets them have a real ground-zero for a new character. That said, I’m not sure giving Dakota a lackey is the greatest idea, especially when you consider that we’ve already done that story very recently with Baszler, Duke & Shafir.

I have faith in the NXT creative team to make it feel like something different, however, until I see proof of that, I shall remain wary.

5 – Finn Balor def. Johnny Gargano

I know, I know. This match was fantastic, but there was so much good stuff on this show and I just couldn’t put this above the other matches from last night.

I think one of the main reasons I dropped this one is because it didn’t quite live up to my (admittedly, very high) expectations. I think because of Johnny’s injury, it lost a little bit of steam and the match as a whole just felt like it was missing something. What exactly that something is, I can’t quite put my finger on, but it dropped my enjoyment of the match just a bit.

That said, the match was still really good. I know people have soured on Gargano slightly, but I honestly don’t know where those people are coming from because I don’t think he’s lost a beat. These two matched up about as well as you’d expect them to and the action was, fast, hard-hitting and full of spectacle as a result.

Against, what I said in my predictions, I actually think Balor winning is the better idea now I’ve considered it. Gargano has had his status reinstated by what happened in the main event, so giving Balor this win to give him that boost in credibility after his return & subsequent heel turn was definitely the right way to go.

4 – Rhea Ripley(c) def. Bianca Belair
(NXT Women’s Championship)

This match is actually a really great look into how far Bianca Belair has come over the past year.

When Belair got a title shot against Baszler this time last year everyone viewed it as an opportunity to proves she belongs in the uber-high quality of the NXT Women’s division and she succeeded. Now, a year later she has another opportunity and it’s clear that she’s easily on par with any other competitor in the NXT locker room. In an era of NXT where the majority of stars are wrestlers who come in with a wave of indie support & hype behind them, looking back I’ve loved watching Belair become the fantastic performer she is today.

I had a lot of fun watching this match. Rhea has settled into her role as champion so easily that it only further proves how worthy of a successor she is to Shayna Basler’s crown. The chemistry here was stellar and there was such a wonderful sense of flow to the whole thing that kept my attention ticking over from one spot to the next. I don’t really have anything special to say about it, it was yet another great performance from two great performers and I’m very excited about what Rhea & Charlotte have in store going into Wrestlemania.

3 – Adam Cole(c) def. Tommaso Ciampa
(NXT Championship)

Oh! That’s the direction they’re going in, alright, you’ve got my attention.

This match was exactly what I’d hoped it would be and honestly, I think that’s the best thing I can say in its favour. This easily had the strongest story going into it and both guys feel like huge stars in both their presence and in the ring. There was a subtle brutality to this match, even though there wasn’t a great deal in terms of big “OMG” spots. Probably helped by that fact that Ciampa looks ripped, this felt like a real hard-hitting fight between two men who genuinely despise each other.

Despite Ciampa’s overwhelming presence and being the one with all the steam behind him currently, Cole made sure that he wasn’t forgotten as the champion and just in general, this match really cemented both of these guys as two of the biggest stars NXT has ever had. This fed into the finish, where we got a bait-and-switch with the interference, as Cole used all his greatest hits in terms of using underhanded tactics to try and win the match. The Undisputed Era getting involved, the low blow, the ref bump;  it felt like a real swan-song for Cole’s title reign and right up until Gargano showed up, I was certain Ciampa was going to win.

Gargano’s arc over the past three years has been so interesting to watch, it’s like when Ciampa’s around, Gargano just can’t help but become the worst version of himself. It’s almost like some kind of deeply ingrained trauma inside his mind that just turns him into a completely different person whenever Ciampa gets involved. There are so many pieces involved here and I’m not sure exactly how they’re all going to come together, but I’m very excited for wherever this whole thing ends up.

2 – Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne def. The Undisputed Era(c)
(NXT Tag Team Championships)

In my predictions, this was easily the match I was the most negative about and when it comes to the character stuff, I stand by what I said. I liked the caddy they drove themselves & the trophy out on, but I was not a fan of the “Fish” stuff. I understand why other people would find it funny, but it’s just really not for me. When it comes to the in-ring stuff, however, that’s the kind of stuff I live for.

In the past, I criticised the fact that Riddle & Dunne have a distinct lack of chemistry in the ring and while I still wouldn’t say it was perfect here, it was absolutely much better than it has been in previous matches. This match was back-and-forth the whole way through which is where I think tag matches are at their best, there was never a chance to settle into the groove of the match because as soon as one team established control, it somehow got broken and stuff started going mental again.

Something I think this match did particularly well was towards the finish when it kept me guessing as to who was going to win right up until the referee hit for three. It continued that form that I talked about earlier, I was never allowed to settle into the finish which meant that the excitement just kept building and building until Dunne & Riddle finally got the win. Despite what I said in my predictions, I’m actually glad the titles changed hands here because I think a shakeup in the tag division is absolutely in order because it’s really lacking in major talent right now. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get on board with their odd-couple pairing, but as long as they keep churning out matches like this, I really don’t mind.

1 – Keith Lee(c) def. Dominic Dijakovic
(North American Championship)

So THIS is what an all-out hoss fight is supposed to look like…I like it!

Quite simply, these guys went all-out and unleashed just about everything they could possibly think of to do and it was just fantastic fun to watch. it proves that big-guy fights don’t have to be slow, plodding affairs full of tests of strengths and grunty pushing. This match had such a different feel to everything else on the show, it was able to have an incredible sense of spectacle to all the big spots, while still maintaining a sense of a hard-hitting fight.

Not to mention, it helped to make an absolute star of Dijakovic. I know most of the NXT faithful know that he’s a great wrestler, but this was his first match on a big show like Takeover and I’ll be very surprised if he didn’t turn some heads. I could sit here listing all of the awesome spots that filled this match, but let’s be honest, you’ve already seen the gifs. I didn’t even know it was possible for people the size of Lee & Dijakovic to pull off some of the stuff they did last night, but quite frankly, I’ll never see gravity in the same way again.

It had just about everything you could want from a big match like this (both figuratively and literally) it was loud, proud, impressive and, most importantly, an absolute blast to watch, easily the best match of the show.

That’s all folks! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article, please let me know what you thought of the show, either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Finally, make sure to come back on Saturday, where I’ll be running down the best speeches from Doctor Who!

WWE Royal Rumble 2020: Every Match Ranked

The Road to Wrestlemania is officially underway and if it’s going to be anything like this show last night, it’s a road I’m very excited to be going down!

Everyone who’s ever used the internet has said it at some point over the past week, but Royal Rumbles are always so much fun to watch and this year was no exceptions, with two Rumble matches that were among the better ones as far as I’m concerned. Even better than that is that the Rumbles weren’t the only thing to write home about, as many of the other matches on the show were quality watches too.

Let’s not waste any more time getting into it and breakdown Royal Rumble 2020 match-by-match!

8 – Roman Reigns def. King Corbin
(Falls Count Anywhere)

No prizes for guessing this one would be last.

Quite simply, this match had everything that I hate about Falls Count Anywhere matches all rolled into one. The action was extremely samey the whole way through (the portaloo spot notwithstanding) as almost the whole thing consisted of Reigns & Corbin wandering around, occasionally hitting each other and throwing each other into the nearest, vaguely solid object.

Even when Roode, Ziggler & The Usos showed up, I still didn’t find myself getting excited, the spot where one of The Usos launched themselves from one of the stands was cool looking, but given that none of the four men involved in that spot were actually a part of the match, I just couldn’t find a reason to care. Also, the camerawork was just plain awful, I don’t know whether the cameramen were being told to shake the camera vigorously throughout all the action, or whether they were just bad at their jobs, but I almost got motion sickness from watching the action at one point.

It certainly wasn’t the most boring match ever and I’d rank it above the match that these two had at TLC, but that’s not exactly saying much. At least the right man won

7 – Sheamus def. Shorty G
(Kickoff Show)

Not much to say on this one, other than it was a lot more competitive than I was expecting it to be. I have no idea where creative are going with this storyline for Sheamus, but I’m happy to wait and see where it goes and that included not having much worth saying about this match. It’s nice that Shorty G wasn’t just annihilated like I thought he would be, but I honestly think watching him get slaughtered by Sheamus might’ve been a bit more fun to watch.

Like almost any pre-show match, it was perfectly acceptable, but not something I’m going to be talking about for very long after the fact.

6 – Andrade(c) def. Humberto Carrillo
(United States Championship)
(Kickoff Show)

Much like Sheamus vs Shorty G, this match was perfectly fine and the only reason this one goes above that match in my rankings is because it lasted slightly longer.

The dynamic between the two was quite different to Sheamus & Shorty G’s though, as these two men have very similar in-ring styles and it felt much more like the new kid on the block trying to get a feel for one of the older fighters, in order to find a weakness. Unfortunately for Carrillo, that weakness never presented itself and while I wouldn’t say Andrade dominated him in this match, he certainly seemed to get a lot more offence in than Carrillo did.

This match wasn’t as exciting as the match these two had at TLC last month, but I still thought it was a decent showing for a pre-show match where, ultimately, everyone knew the outcome going in.

5 –  Bayley(c) def. Lacey Evans
(Smackdown Women’s Championship)

I think this is the match that I was the most pleasantly surprised by because, if I’m being honest, I wasn’t expecting much going in.

Bayley’s Pay-Per-View matches this past year have, for the most part, been rather underwhelming and I’m still not much of a Lacey Evans fan, but I think the two did a great job at putting on a well-paced and enjoyable match. For one thing, Lacey’s daughter is ADORABLE and her smile just seemed to instantly brighten my mood, but I also thought there was a lot of good action between the two.

I wouldn’t have thought Lacey could work that well as a face, but I found myself getting behind her as the match went on, thanks in large part to Bayley’s great ability to work as a heel. Watching this match it’s clear just how much Evans has come on as a wrestler, especially when you compare it to something like her matches against Becky Lynch from last May.

Admittedly, this wasn’t some super exciting match to set the world on fire, but I think these two women did an admirable job and made me finally see the potential in Lacey Evans’ new character direction, and more generally as a performer, so I’d rate that a success.

4 – Charlotte Flair won the 30 Woman Royal Rumble Match

With each year that goes by, I think the women’s Royal Rumble match keeps getting better and better. As WWE hires more and more credible female competitors, it no longer feels like the match is relying on the nostalgia pops and thread-bare action in order to get the crowd interested, finally putting it on par with the booking philosophies of the men’s incarnation of the match.

For the past two years, the downfall of the women’s Royal Rumble has been the first half but that wasn’t a problem here because I thought the first half of this match was the best portion of the whole thing. I wouldn’t have thought that Bianca Belair would be the one to get the rub of dominating the early portions but I absolutely loved how it played out. There was a good mix of everything in there, from the serious to the comical and it kept the action flowing at a good pace.

From when Charlotte entered through until Shayna Baszler showed up wasn’t all that interesting, but I still had a good time seeing people like Beth Pheonix & Shotzi Blackheart showing up and briefly kicking arse, even if blood somehow started POURING out of the back of Beth’s head.

While I’m a bit disappointed Shayna Baszler didn’t win the match, I’m not mad about it. While she is absolutely a ready-made star, I can understand why people think it might be a bit too early to give her a rub like winning the Royal Rumble and, let’s be honest, Charlotte was always going to have to win one of these eventually. Not to mention that sequence towards the end where Baszler just decided she’d had enough of this shit and eliminated EVERYONE still in the ring in space of about a minute was great to watch.

While it wasn’t perfect, it was undoubtedly the best of the women’s Royal Rumble matches we’ve had so far and I can honestly say I’d happily watch it again and have a good time doing so.

3 – Becky Lynch(c) def. Asuka
(Raw Women’s Championship)

This is one of those situations where I think a disinterested crowd took away from a match that was a lot better than the reactions it was getting. I don’t blame the crowd, however, if I had already gone through 3 hours of action and knew there was a Royal Rumble match immediately after this one, I’d try and conserve my energy too, but it doesn’t stop it taking away from the match somewhat.

Still, there was a lot of solid wrestling to this match and I don’t think we should let a muted crowd take away too much from that fact. These two have clear chemistry in the ring together and if I’m being entirely honest, I wouldn’t mind seeing another clash between them in front of a more lively crowd. Asuka did a good job of striking a balance between heelishly slowing down the action but keeping things relatively exciting and tense as she worked her magic.

Meanwhile, Becky did was Becky does and it was as much fun to watch as it always is. She’s so good at making herself look just about beatable, before striking out with the comebacks and sneaking away with the win. I especially liked the finishing sequence where both women were escaping each other’s submission manoeuvres and I’m happy that Becky finally got her win back.

2 – The Fiend Bray Wyatt(c) def. Daniel Bryan
(Universal Championship)
(Strap Match)

Told you they’d make it work.

If I’m being honest, I was starting to lose faith that we’d ever see a really great Fiend match, his character didn’t seem to leave much room for competitive matches, however, I was thankfully proved wrong last night as I thought this was a great way to go about it.

Strap matches usually tend to restrict the performers in the ring, but that wasn’t the case here as they were able to get some really impressive action in and still feature the strap heavily in most of their spots. Throughout the match, I really got the feeling that Daniel Bryan was finally able to get a feel of The Fiend and had plenty of counters prepared for the erratic offence The Fiend threw his way.

It was a little slow to start, but that was necessary to get the damage in on Bryan and lend a lot more drama to his comeback, which definitely worked. Every now and then Bryan would get a little advantage over The Fiend and each time he managed it, he kept the momentum going for just a little bit longer. Unfortunately, the fact that it was extremely obvious going in that Bryan wasn’t going to win sapped a bit of the drama out of the final LeBell Lock, but I still came away from the match having had a great time watching some great wrestling, so I can’t complain.

 1 – Drew McIntyre won the 30 Man Royal Rumble Match

Well, I sure didn’t see that one coming.

This was very clearly a Rumble of two halves and I think that both halves were as entertaining as each other, but in different ways. The first half where Brock was eliminating everyone was so fun to watch, it could’ve lost its novelty pretty quickly, but there was enough variation in both the entrants and the method by which they fought that kept it entertaining and it was clear from his face that Brock was having a great time, which helps LOADS.

My personal favourite moment in that first half was when Shelton Benjamin came out and Brock greeted him as an old friend because we knew that turn was coming, but Brock was so uncharacteristically cheery that I couldn’t help but chuckle. The drama was there too, with Kofi, Big E and Rey did their best to take on the Beast, it’s a bit disappointing that Kofi didn’t get his moment, but when the three of them prepared an attack on the outside, I felt the drama of it. Also, honourable mention to Brock bopping to MVP’s music.

Eventually, Drew came out at 17 and things went off the chain. Ricochet giving Brock the low-blow was a nice bit of poetry and the Claymore Drew hit to eliminate Brock was brilliant and Brock sold it like death to boot. As the ring filled up with people we got the more standard Rumble action and thanks to the calibre of the guys involved it was all great stuff.

Edge’s return was brilliant, even if a lot of us sort of knew it was probably going to happen. I became a wrestling fan not too long after Edge retired, but I’ve seen so much of his stuff since then and that look on his face as he walked out – pumped and ready to fight, but also on the brink of crying tears of joy – that hit me right in the feels and it was a wonderful moment. On top of that, he got a great showing, Spearing everyone in sight and giving us a cheeky little Rated RKO reunion for our troubles.

As I mentioned in my predictions, while Roman wasn’t the person I necessarily wanted to win, I would’ve been happy if he did and I’d come to accept the fact that it was just how it was going to happen. So when Drew threw Roman over the top and won I was genuinely shocked and overjoyed. I never would’ve picked Drew to win, but now the prospect of Drew vs Brock is in front of me I am GAGGING for it, make that man the first-ever UK-Born WWE Champion, I need that in my life.

As far as a Royal Rumble match goes, this was a resounding success on all fronts and it easily up there with many of the better Rumble matches to ever take place.

And that’s it! Those are my thoughts of Royal Rumble 2020! Thank you very much for taking the time to read this, let me know what you thought of the show, either in the comments below or on Twitter @10ryawoo. Finally, make sure to come back on Saturday where I’ll be running down Doctor Who Series 5!